---
title: Chronic Disease Management App Takes Top Honors at Pitch Dingman
date: 2024-04-29T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/chronic-disease-management-app-takes-top-honors-at-pitch-dingman"
section: Articles
---
# Chronic Disease Management App Takes Top Honors at Pitch Dingman

*April 29, 2024* — by [Pablo Suarez](/author/pablo-suarez)


> Terps Awarded $300K in Cash and Prizes at Annual Entrepreneurship Competition


As a critical care nurse, Mildred Diggs MBA ’24 saw her patients, especially those from underserved communities, struggle to follow medication regimes or diets prescribed by their doctors to treat chronic conditions.

Now the culturally conscious digital platform she developed to help people manage diabetes and cardiovascular diseases will get a $25,000 dose of support as the top prize winner of the University of Maryland’s 2024 [Pitch Dingman Competition](https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/centers-initiatives/dingman-center/initiatives-programs/pitch-dingman-competition). She told an audience of students, judges, faculty and staff at Thursday’s event that [Journiy](https://www.journiywellness.com/) offers individualized nutrition and wellness support, augmenting the care of doctors who, she said, lack the time and resources to tailor every patient’s treatment plan.

Diggs, a U.S. Army veteran, founded Journiy in 2022 to crunch data provided by patients and their medical records and create an easy-to-follow care plan that considers their cultural backgrounds. It provides recommendations to keep patients on track with their goals and alerts providers when patients require additional support or urgent intervention. It also offers in-depth educational content based on patient demographic data, including nutrition plans centered around relevant ethnic cuisine.

“People struggle to deal with chronic diseases because of a lack of education, access to resources or because their cultural background is not taken into consideration; and how we manage our health has a lot to do with our culture,” said Diggs. “Being able to address those issues and knowing the impact I can make with this has been my driving force.”


*Pitch Dingman Competition winners hold up giant checks*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [Academic Competitions](https://today.umd.edu/topic/academic-competitions), [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)


**Units:** [Robert H. Smith School of Business](https://today.umd.edu/topic/robert-h-smith-school-business)